Harry Potter spinoff: part 1
by Maneschijn
Summary: Okay, I decided to blend in a new character in Harry Potter and the prisoner of Azkaban. I'll follow the real story more or less, but I'm going to be creative with existing characters, thus changing the story a bit. Here's part 1 for now, I hope I'll have
1. Chapter 1

Okay, I decided to blend in a new character in Harry Potter and the prisoner of Azkaban. I'll follow the real story more or less, but I'm going to be creative with existing characters, thus changing the story a bit. Here's part 1 for now, I hope I'll have time to finish this story, I'm quite busy right now :-(

'Hello class, I'm Miss Caelus, your new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher.' Harry looked up at the woman that would be teaching his favourite subject this year. She was tall and was around thirty, he guessed. She had bright green eyes and long black silky hair. Her black velvet dress matched her pale skin perfectly. She was actually kind of pretty, he thought. She strode around the classroom to look at her students.

'Well, I hope I'll be able to teach you something useful. With Voldemort on the loose you can use some protection.' There were some frightened noises as she pronounced the name and Harry grinned, knowing already he was going to like Miss Caelus. She went on, acting like she didn't hear anything.

'First of all I'm going to teach you how to summon a decent shield. I know you've already learned how to do this, but I'm quite sure most of them are very feeble and can only counter simple jinxes. A strong shield could save your life, so I would really like you all to be able to do this before we proceed to anything else.' She moved around her desk, picking up the book that was lying there. ,Now then, take page seventeen, you may find some useful tips there about summoning a shield. Am I being too optimistic when I ask if somebody has already made the effort of reading this and could tell me something about it?' As usual, Hermione's hand shot into the air.

'Yes, Miss Granger?'

'It's easier to create a solid shield if you imagine something like a thick wall standing around you,' she recited.

'Very good,' said Miss Caelus, beaming at her. 'Ten points for Gryffindor.' Hermione slid back onto the bench – she had jumped up while giving her answer – with a satisfied smile on her face.

'Already sucking up the new teacher aren't you?' Ron said with a mean grin. She snorted.

'I am NOT sucking up. Besides, you should be happy to have me. If we would have to gain points with YOUR answers, Gryffindor would NEVER win.' Ron scowled at her, but said nothing. They practiced on summoning shields all morning, and by the end of the class, everyone was terribly tired. Miss Caelus, on the other hand, was delighted.

'I must say you do better than I expected,' she said happily. 'I'll see you all next time. Be sure to pratice!'

'So, what do you think of her?' asked Harry as they hurried their way to Potions. 'She seems okay.'

'Yeah, I like her too,' Ron replied. 'At least she's patient, she doesn't start shouting if it doesn't work the first time.' He turned around at Hermione. 'What do you think?'

'Hm?' She peered from behind the newspaper she was reading, The Daily Prophet.

'I said: wh-'

'I know what you said,' she answered irritatedly. 'Here, read this!' She stuck the newspaper under Harry's nose.

'Sirius Black escaped from Azkaban,' he read. 'And who might that be?'

'Honestly, don't you know anything? He's a very dangerous criminal and an accomplice of You-Know-Who!'

'Well, we're safe here at Hogwarts, aren't we?'

'Of course we are,' she replied, but she didn't seem so sure of that herself. She put The Daily Prophet in her schoolbag. 'We should better hurry, I don't feel like arriving too late in Snape's class.

'Me neither,' said Ron. 'Let's go.'


	2. Chapter 2

They were all sitting at the long Gryffindor table, chatting about how they spent the holidays. Ron was enthousiastically talking about his trip to Egypt, while Hermione was commenting on the interesting facts she learned about history of magic in France. Harry was absently staring into his pumpkin juice, not really paying attention to what they were saying.

' –really magnificent. Don't you think so too, Harry?' Harry looked up. Hermione was looking at him, frowning.

'Did you even hear what I was saying?'

'Erm, sorry,' Harry mumbled, 'I wasn't paying attention.'

'What's wrong with you? You've been acting strange ever since we arrived at Hogwarts.'

'It's nothing, don't worry about it...'

'Come on Harry,' Ron said. 'You know you can tell us if something's bothering you.' Harry sighed.

'It's Black,' he said, pointing at the Daily Prophet lying in front of him, a picture of Black staring at him with empty eyes. 'He's after me.'

'How do you mean he's after you?' Hermione asked.

'I heard Mr. and Mrs. Weasly talking about it. Fudge says Black wants to kill me. That's why they brought us to the train station with cars of the Ministry, they want to keep an eye on me.' Hermione turned slightly pale.

'You... you must be terrified,' she said, almost whispering. He shrugged.

'Not really. I'm safe at Hogwarts, right? Dumbledore is here, and Voldemort is afraid of him, so Black must be too.' Hermione didn't look convinced, nor did Ron.

'But why would he want to kill you?' Ron asked. 'What did you ever do to him?'

'Fudge says that Black probably thinks killing me will revive Voldemort.'

'Don't –say –that –name!' Ron squealed.

'Sorry,' Harry mumbled.

'Well,' Hermione said, 'you'll just have to stay in the castle then, you'll be safe as long as you don't go wandering around.' Harry just nodded, not seeing any reason why he should be wandering around on the castle grounds, especially not while those dementors where still around.

They had their first Divinations class that morning, but Harry wasn't sure if he was going to like this subject. To him it seemed like it was just a bunch of guessing and hoping you got it right. He was staring into his teacup, trying to distinguish a shape in the tealeaves. Suddenly he heard someone gasp behind him. He turned around to see the teacher, Mrs Trelawney, stare at him with an expression of pure horror on her face. She pointed at his teacup with a bony finger.

'My dear boy, you've got –you've got –the Grim!' Harry blinked at her, not fully understanding what she meant.

'The Grim, boy! A death omen!' Some people screamed or clapped their hands over their mouths. Ron looked at the tealeaves.

'That doesn't really look like a Grim to me,' he said. 'It looks more like a cow.' Professor Trelawney ignored him.

'You are in very great danger,' she said dramatically. 'Very great danger indeed.' She turned around at the class, looking as though she was very depressed. 'We'll end the lesson here for today, you will all need time to process this terrible matter.' When the students left the class, they were all staring at Harry. Some girls were even sobbing.

'Oh, cut it out!' Hermione snarled. 'Harry is NOT going to die. That thing she saw in his tealeaves could have been anything. She just wanted to make her lessons more interesting by foretelling something horrible.' She grabbed Harry's arm and jerked him towards the staircase. 'Come on!'

'Well, that's the first time ever you don't agree with a teacher,' Ron grinned.

'Honestly!' Hermione cried. 'You even thougth it was a cow!' She turned around to face Harry. 'You don't believe that nonsense, do you?'

'Of course not,' he replied quickly, but the image of the black dog he saw at Privet Drive flashed before his eyes. His thoughts must have reflected on his face, because Hermione sighed.

'You DO believe her, do you?'

'Well,' he said, hesitating, 'I have been seeing a black dog, a Grim.' Ron gasped.

'You saw a Grim? Why didn't you tell us?'

'It was probably just a straydog,' Hermione said sceptically. 'If you start believing that sort of stuff, you'll be seeing death omens everywhere!'

'But my uncle saw a Grim once and he died 24 hours later!' Ron replied.

'Coincidence,' Hermione said. 'And now I'm going to get some lunch, I'm hungry.' There was no point argueing with her, so the two boys followed her to the Great Hall.

--------------------------------------

Harry felt a bit gloomy. The school was buzzing with excitement, because today they had the chance to visit Hogsmeade, many for the first time. Everyone was discussing what they were going to do first when they arrived. Everyone, except Harry. The Dursley's hadn't signed the form that gave him persmission to go to Hogsmeade. So later that day it was with a heavy feeling in his stomach that he said goodbye to his friends, who were sencerely sorry for him and promised to bring him lots of sweets. Not really knowing what to do, he wandered around in the corridors, looking at the paintings on the wall. Because he was watching the walls more than his own feet, he bumped into professor Caelus, who had been lost in thoughts so deeply that she hadn't seen him coming either.

'Harry,' she said with a warm smile, 'what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be in Hogsmeade?'

'Erm, I haven't got permission,' he said, trying to sound less woeful than he was.

'Oh, I'm sorry for you,' she answered. 'Could I invite you for a cup of tea then? I'm feeling quite useless myself right now.' Harry looked up at her.

'You probably don't like me wandering around on my own either, I assume.' She frowned at him.

'What do you mean?'

'Everyone's following me around constantly because they want to protect me from Black.'

'Oh –that.' Her smile disappeared at once. Harry noticed it.

'Did I say something wrong, professor?'

'No, not at all,' she reassured him. 'It's just that I seem to be the only one around here that believes in Blacks innocence.' Harry stared at her. He didn't expect that answer.

'Blacks innocence?' he repeated.

'Yes,' she answered calmly. 'I have never believed that Sirius was capable of doing something like that and I still don't believe it.'

'You act like you know him.' She nodded.

'I think it's best we discuss this matter in my office.' Professor Cealus lead him to the end of the corridor, where she opened a heavy door that lead to a tidy and rather small room. She sat down behind her desk and told Harry to take a seat as well.

'Sirius and I were both at Hogwarts at the same time,' she went on. 'I was in the first grade, and he in his last grade. The way he and your father got along, it seems impossible to me that Sirius could have done such a terrible thing.' Harry felt he had missed something very important.

'My dad? What does Sirius have to do with my dad? And to what he has done –whatever that may be.' Professor Cealus suddenly looked shocked.

'You mean you don't know?'

'Know what?' Professor Cealus covered her eyes with her hand.

'I shouldn't have told you anything. I'm sorry Harry, forget what I said.' She stood up, but Harry started to protest.

'Know what? Did Sirius know my dad? What happened?' She looked at him for a moment, sighed and then slid back into her chair.

'They're going to kill me if they ever find out what I'm about to tell you.'

'I'm not going to tell,' Harry said, anxious to know what was going on. She looked at him with a serious glint in her green eyes.

'I'm going to tell you this because I think you have the right to know.' She sighed again. 'Your dad and Sirius were best friends. They were inseperable. If you saw Sirius, you saw James and the other way around. When James and Lily got married, he even was their best man, and your godfather when you were born.' Harry was sure that he must have misunderstood that.

'Sirius Black is my godfather?'

'Yes, Harry, he is. That's why you shouldn't believe all the rubbish about him wanting to kill you. Sirius is innocent. He loved James and Lily more than anyone else. They say he was responsable for their deaths, that he told Voldemort where your parents were hiding so he was able to track them and kill them, but I don't believe a word of it.' It was like pieces of a puzzle falling in its place. Harry fell silent for a moment, trying to understand what he had just heard. After a long pause, he finally spoke.

'How come you're so sure of the fact that he didn't do it?'

'Because Sirius did everything for his friends. He would have died for them. Besides, he didn't have it in him to become a murderer, he wouldn't hurt a fly. I was a scared little first year student when I arrived at Hogwarts, and he helped me a couple of times when I was in trouble, without even knowing who I was. He was always ready to help people, it's impossible that he would have betrayed his best friends.'

'You seem to know a lot about him,' Harry said. She blushed and looked away.

'Well, I erm –secretly had a bit of a crush on him, so I spent quite some time observing him.' Harry couldn't stop himself from laughing, and Professer Caelus went even redder.

'I'm sorry,' he apoligised. 'Did he know? I mean, did he know about you having a crush on him?'

'I repeat, I think he hardly even knew who I was, so I assume he didn't know.' Harry nodded and stood up.

'I need some time to think now, I'm a bit confused.' Professer Caelus gave him a serious look.

'I understand. I hope this conversation was useful to you.' She opened the door for him and lay a hand on his shoulder.

'I don't expect you to share my vision, but that's how I feel about it. I just hope you don't go hating your own godfather for something he hasn't done.'

When Harry walked back to the common room, all kinds of emotions were spinning through his head. He had just discovered some shocking facts, but he didn't really know how to react on them. Knowing that Black had been responsable for the death of his parents should have made him very angry, but the way Professor Caelus talked about him made him doubt. But what if she was wrong, what if Black was a criminal indeed and wanted to kill him to revive Voldemort? And then there was the fact that Black was his godfather, so in some way family. He threw himself in one of the comfortable chairs in the common room and stared in to the fire, with hundreds of questions that would probably never be answered whirling around in his mind.

-------------------------


End file.
